DIGIPAK: panel 1 edit 3

Panel 1 edit 3

I really like the main image on the front cover as it shows all of the band members in an interesting light. Its unconventional as the lead singer is not the main focus but I like that as the indie genre is known for breaking the normal conventions as stepping outside the box much like Blur and The Strokes (I have previously blogged on this). Therefore I will not change this image as I have already gained a lot of positive audience feedback on it. 

What I have done:

I have played around with the brightness levels of the text using the tools in photoshop and illustrator. I thought that the text looked a little dull and didn't stand out enough.

Next: I may change the brightness back as I feel like it ruins the overall grungy effect of the front cover. I will play around with the ordering of the panel.

First draft of digipak

First draft of digipak front cover
Using photoshop and illustrator I have created the first digipak front cover. 
Photoshop
I have cut out the image of the 3 band members in masks using the polygonal lasso tool and then desaturated the image and using levels and curves tool, I have found the right dark black and white option for me. I then faded the edges of the image to make it blend better with the background. 
I then transferred my image, which I took using long exposure on my camera and desaturated it again and using the levels and curves tool, I made the backdrop almost black and the light white to create more of a contrast. I then duplicated the image and flipped it vertically and merged the two images together to create one large image to create the background. I then transferred the image onto the background. 

original background image

Illustrator 
As I already had a template for the digipak so to make sure the image went all the way to the bleed (the blue line) I worked out how long the image would have to be to fill the front and back covers. This measurement was 291mm by 131.5mm. 
I then found the font CFJackStory in the font book which looks almost hand written which fits very well with the indie genre as its freehand. Also to help fit with Sly Antics style I used the salmon colour they use repeatedly on their website. I did this by copying a screenshot of the font and using the dropper tool copied the exact colour. I then typed out the bands name and the albums name. To fit the genre conventions I made the bands name larger than the album name.